Death Be Not Loud

Last week, there was an article profiling Phedre which detoured into the lack of Asian presence in popular music (and other media). Phedre themselves don't care about their status as POC musicians. Meanwhile, Ohbijou has disbanded partly because some audience and interviewers found an (imaginary and tiresome) exoticism in their music and identities that was non-existent. Art/rock collective Yamantaka // Sonic Titan has no such confusion; they fully embrace their minority heritage in their music. After missing their last few shows (and theatre performances), I finally got a chance to see them on Wednesday at the Garrison.

It started with the set decorations: large black-and-white cardboard illustrations. Some had waves or a giant, crowned octopus that straddled between traditional ink paintings and Manga. Others featured orca in the clean, stylized lines of Aboriginal art. The performers all had white-painted faces like Kabuki actors, but the patterns drawn on each face varied from Asian strokes to Native stripes.

Yes, there were hand drums, Chinese cymbals, and mini gongs. But these were contemporary musicians, so their music was in the Western pop vein and not some ersatz "World Music", with plenty of guitar, synth, and drums. The core element was Ruby Kato Attwood's light voice floating through the songs. She would also often hold mudras, a buddhist bell, or feathery fans while singing. The foundation was John Acheta (guitar) and Brendan Swanson (synth) and Alaska B (drums) who, while wandering now and then to light pop and balladry, were noisy, punk, and even loud and head-banging crunchy. Over top, Ange Loft often let loose with ululations and Native chants that added urgency and power.

This was original music, both serious and fun. They were short-listed for the Polaris Prize for their debut album. With the second one (Uzu) that just came out, they should be winning even more fans. With a packed house and a rush to the merch table after the show, the uniqueness of YT // ST is obviously connecting with many people.